Kepa Arrizabalaga has spoken out about the incident with boss Maurizio Sarri as Manchester City won their Carabao Cup Final on penalties.
Astonishing scenes in extra time at Wembley saw the Chelsea goalkeeper refuse to be substituted after going down with an injury, shortly before he had suffered from cramp.
While Kepa insisted that he was alright to carry on, Sarri had angry exchanges with his technical staff, at one point looking to storm off down the tunnel and leave his Chelsea players with the rest of the game and penalties needing to still be played out.
? – Have you EVER seen anything like it!?
Maurizio Sarri tries to substitute Kepa Arrizabalaga for Willy Caballero, but Kepa refuses to come off and Sarri is absolutely FURIOUS! ? pic.twitter.com/Q81v6ry3Kk
— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 24, 2019
Maurizio Sarri held further talks with the referee with the substitution getting cancelled, leaving Willy Caballero perplexed.
Kepa Arrizabalaga stayed on for the last few minutes of extra time and the subsequent shootout, however was mocked for fumbling Sergio Aguero’s penalty which played a part in City beating the Blues 4-3.
Sarri has since claimed the incident with Kepa was a misunderstanding, he said as quoted by Sky Sports: “It was a big misunderstanding. I understood the goalkeeper had cramp, and was unable to go to the pens, but the problem was not cramp, so he was able to go to the penalties.
“As I say to the goalkeeper, he understood that I asked for a change for his physical problem, he said, ‘I haven’t a physical problem’ and so he was right I think.
“I realised after when the doc arrived to the bench, the goalkeeper with a little problem, I wanted Caballero ready.”
When asked if he would talk with him and his reaction, Sarri added: “No, I have to talk with him but only to clarify because now I have understood very well the situation.” Although in the post-match press conference he did admit the Spanish goalkeeper’s conduct was incorrect.
“It was only a big misunderstanding, Kepa was right, but in the wrong way I think, in the wrong way in the way he behaved and conducted himself, but mentally he was right, he was able to go to penalties.”
Kepa wrote a post on Twitter hours after the game: “Upset and sad for not being able to take the title, we fought until the end against a great team. We will continue to working to be stronger.
“I would also like to clarify some facts of today’s match:
“First of all I regret how the end of the match has been portrayed. At no time has it been my intention to disobey the coach or any of his decisions. I think everything has been misundeestood in the heat of the final part of a match for a title.
“The coach thought I was not in a position to play on and my intention was to express that I was in good condition to continue helping the team, while the docs that had treated me arrived at the bench to give the message.
“I feel the image that has been portrayed was not my intention. I have full respect for the coach and his authority.”
— kepa Arrizabalaga (@kepa_46) February 24, 2019
Following the statement, football fans replied to the keeper’s statement, the majority continuing to mock and criticise for thinking he’s bigger that the manager – check out what they had to say on the next page.
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